Christmas in Cruxis
by Holy Song
Summary: An attempt at making a Christmas fic. Lloyd and the others are invited to spend Christmas with Yggdrasill in Vinheim.


Merry Christmas, everyone! Wait. Some people don't celebrate Christmas. So…happy Christmahanukwazaakah!

Also, happy belated Turkey Day!

Don't you just love this time of the year? You get together with your family and friends and sing songs and imagine that the world can be perfect, even for the tiniest sliver of a second. And don't forget the presents…!

I hope it snows this year. The south doesn't get enough love. Stupid Flanoir can't share with the rest of us.

Anyway, this is my version of a Mithosmas fic! I hope you all enjoy!

Warning: There will be tons of Christmas song parodies. Also, this is AU, which you'll notice right away. It's set more toward the end of the game, but the Grand Cardinals aren't dead. Is this making sense? I hope not, because I'm very confused with what I'm writing…Blah.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, there really would be a Mithosmas. And they'd all get together and celebrate. Even Mithos. And, somehow, Martel. Yuan would be happy.

**Christmas with Cruxis**

Yggdrasill looked around Vinheim, which was decorated in reds and greens. His favorite holiday was nearing, and yet he was disappointed. Ever since Cruxis was established, which was a long time ago, he had held a Christmas party in Martel's honor. But this year, he had been so busy with the Chosen, and he had forgotten to plan the party.

"This sucks," he muttered as he paced the halls, which were decked in boughs of holly. "I forgot all about Christmas, and now I have no party." He turned to face the only other person on the room, a man whom he had long been associated with. "What do you think, Kratos?"

Because he had no desire to help Mithos with his plans, he wasn't the happiest man in the world at the moment. The leader of Cruxis had been in a state of frenzy for most of the day, and because Yuan wasn't here, he was the only one who had to listen to Mithos' constant rants. In short, he was pissed. "Just plan a party now, then," he suggested, hoping this time the suggestion that he had been hinting at all day would finally make its way through his lord's thick skull.

Yggdrasill began pacing again. "Maybe…I should plan a party now! Heh, I guess I have some pretty good ideas, huh, Kratos?" The other angel twitched unnoticeably. "But whom to invite…?" the man in white mumbled. He suddenly stopped and turned on his heel to face the elder angel. "Kratos," he ordered. "You are in charge of the guest list." An imperceptible sigh of annoyance escaped Kratos' lips. "Now, you may leave. And don't return until at least fifteen people are on that list."

Without saying a word, Kratos turned and left the room, thinking very bad and unnamable thoughts about his boss.

* * *

"_Christmas is coming, the Katz is getting fat. Please put a Gald coin in the Chosen's hat! If you haven't got a Gald coin, a blessing will do. If you haven't got a blessing, then Martel, bless you!_"

Lloyd skipped down the dirt path of Iselia on his way to school, singing various Christmas songs. The holiday was coming soon, and he was in the Christmas spirit. "_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be on your own front door_!" Lloyd sang. All around him, decorations lined the streets. The reds and greens and blues were so uplifting, and he couldn't help beaming widely. Whistling more Christmas carols, he pulled his coat closer to him, wrapped his crimson scarf tightly around his neck, and pulled his red hat down to cover his ears. Then, satisfied, he strut the rest of the way to school.

* * *

The schoolhouse in Iselia was decked out in lights and holly and wreaths. A large conifer stood merrily outside the building. It was decorated with tinsel and sparkling ornaments. A large, shining star sat atop the great tree. It truly was a beautiful sight, and Colette sighed happily. This Christmas would be a lot of fun because this year, she had tons of new friends to share the holiday spirit with.

Genis ran out of the school, grinning ear to ear. "I got the lights put up in the school!" he proudly proclaimed.

"Are you sure that you did it all by yourself, Genis?" Raine said calmly, walking out of the school behind her brother.

"W-well…I may have had a _little_ help…" Genis admitted. Raine shook her head and chuckled.

"Professor, you're in a good mood today," Lloyd said as he rounded to corner and came into view. When he saw the giant tree looming over the bunch, his eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Whoa…that's really pretty."

"We worked really hard on it," the tree said.

"…Did the tree just talk?" Lloyd asked incredulously.

"No, Lloyd," it said again. "It's me." The needles of the tree rustled and a woman stepped out from behind it, revealing dark hair and slightly slanted brown eyes. She, like everyone present, was bundled up in a thick coat with a scarf wrapped around her.

"Sheena! Hi!" Lloyd greeted, walking up to her and giving her a friendly hug.

"Hi, Lloyd. How are you?" she asked.

"Cold," he said simply. "I can even see my breath!" To prove his point, he blew hot air out of his mouth, and the visible breath formed in front of his mouth. Genis and Colette soon joined in, trying to create a giant cloud out of their breath.

"I see," Sheena said, not quite sure how to respond to his childish act.

"Come on, now. We still have school before our break," Raine said. All three that attended the school sighed before following the Professor into the school.

"And now I'm alone…" Sheena said. She looked around for anyone and then bit her lip. "Okay, then…" She saw no one, so she shrugged and went back to work on the tree, singing a few carols softly.

"_Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la.  
'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la.  
Don we now our gay apparel, fa la la, la la la, la la la.  
Troll the ancient Yule tide carol, fa la la la la, la la la la!_"

"Wow," a voice suddenly said, and Sheena jumped. "I didn't know you could sing, Sheena. Why don't you do that more often?"

Sheena spun around, startled, and met a smirking face. "Zelos!" she shouted. "Why are you here?"

"Don't pretend like you aren't happy, hunny," he flirted. Fuming, Sheena stepped away from the tree and promptly smacked him. "Ow, Sheeeena!" he cried. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Because you're an idiot!" she yelled. "Now leave me alone. I'm trying to decorate this tree."

"Can I help?" the Chosen asked hopefully.

"No," she said simply before returning to the tree.

"Why not?" he pouted.

"Because you're annoying." Sheena sighed. "Now go away, Zelos. I'm busy, and I want this to be done before school lets out. I don't have time to be hit on."

"Fine, fine; I see I'm not wanted here. I'll just go now…" Zelos started to leave, hoping that, by some chance, Sheena would stop him. She did nothing and instead went back to working on the tree. "Sheeena!" the Chosen whined.

The ninja merely rolled her eyes. "You just said you were leaving. So go before I smack you. I don't want you messing anything up."

"Okay, I'll go. Goodbye, my voluptuous hunny. We'll meet again soon." With a flirty smile, he turned and walked away, carrying himself as though he were a young boy who had just heard a juicy secret. Sheena was a little suspicious of this sudden change of mannerisms, but she shrugged the feeling off; the tree still had to be decorated for Christmas.

* * *

"Just a moment please. Hello, Regal Bryant speaking," the president of the Lezareno Company said into the phone. Running one of the biggest businesses in Tethe'alla was definitely rewarding, but it required a lot of additional work on Regal's part. "Five hundred boxes of garland? I'll send a request to my workers right away." Regal hung up the phone and sighed. He would have to work on Christmas once again. It seemed that every year, the orders for Christmas decorations grew more and more as the customers' demand grew. Why was everybody so competitive? Regal had noticed that everyone tried to outdo each other with Christmas, trying to see who had more spirit. It was more obvious in the nobles' section of Meltokio. The night seemed to be noon because of the thousands of lights twinkling on the houses. While it was nice to see that so many loved to show their Christmas spirit, it was a great burden to supply those lights for the people. The electricity bills, however, always made Regal smile when he sent the bills out to the excessive decorators. Christmas was a great way to make money.

Regal glanced over at his dearest possession: the picture he had taken of Alicia about two days before she…died. "Another year without you, Alicia. How many has it been, now? Five? …Too long, I suppose."

A small pink-haired girl arrived in the elevator. "Um, Regal, someone wanted to see you," she said.

"Hello, Presea. He can come up." Regal waved toward Presea, and as she walked into the room, the elevator on the opposite side of the room rose to this level, revealing the same blue-haired half-elf whom he had long been skeptical of. "Ka-Fai," he said curtly.

"Bryant," the man at the door responded.

"Why are you here?" Regal asked, the tiniest hint of malice in his voice. Even after working with the half-elf for quite some time to bring down Cruxis, he still didn't trust Yuan.

"Because Kratos wouldn't do it," he said with annoyance.

"Pardon?"

"You see, Mr. Bryant," Yuan began, "every year, Mithos holds a Christmas party in honor of Martel. But this year, because of Lloyd, he forgot to plan the party."

"You're here to buy decorations?" Regal asked incredulously, blinking a few times.

"To put it simply, yes. Yggdrasill wants enough stuff to fill the main hall in Vinheim, including a fifteen-foot tree. I assume you can handle that?" Yuan raised an eyebrow, challenging the other blunette.

"It will be no problem at all. Thank you for coming to us." Regal scribbled a few notes in the notebook he always kept handy.

"Also, because I'm here, you are invited to this party. Don't ask me why; Kratos put you and Presea down on the guest list. But make sure you come. We don't want another incident like Heimdall." Without another word, Yuan walked to the elevator that he had come from and pressed a button. The gate closed and he descended to the first floor.

"Are we going to the party, Regal?" Presea asked.

"With a threat like that, it seems we have no choice," the older man sighed.

"Then we should go find some clothes to wear to the party," the girl suggested.

"Indeed." Regal rose from his desk and walked with Presea to the elevator.

"Party clothes…" Presea mused as the elevator went down.

"Hmmm…indeed."

"You say 'indeed' a lot, Regal," she pointed out.

"Yes, I suppose I do."

* * *

Kratos sighed as he stood outside of Iselia. Yggdrasill wanted him to find guests for the party, but he had had no idea where to look. Why had he been put in charge of the guest list? Yuan was much more social than he was. And yet, here he was, standing at the front entrance to his son's hometown, holding a list with people's names that he had thought of off the top of his head. _Forcystus, Kvar, Pronyma, Rodyle, Magnius…_ the Grand Cardinals had been the first that he had invited, because they seemed fitting. But the names toward the bottom of the list, Kratos wasn't sure that Yggdrasill would like them. Sighing once more, he headed into the small town and walked briskly all the way to the back of town. He heard the sound of laughter from inside the schoolhouse as he neared it. He reached into a large pocket that was sewn onto the back of his outfit, hidden by his cape, and pulled out five invitations.

He was just about to knock on the door when it opened. Lloyd stood in the doorway, raising an eyebrow at his father. "Kratos?" he asked slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I…um…you see…" he began, but Lloyd's attention faltered and he noticed the invitations that Kratos was holding.

"Are those invitations? To what?" he asked, excited.

Well, no matter how badly he _didn't_ want to do this, the cat was now out of the bag. "They're for a Christmas party, Lloyd," he explained. At this, Lloyd's eyes grew wide and sparkly, like a young kid with a new toy. But then his happiness faded and all that was left was skepticism.

"_You're_ throwing a Christmas party, Kratos?" he asked, his head cocked to the side.

Kratos sighed. "It's for Yggdrasill. I was somehow put in charge of the guest list this year, and you and your comrades were the first people I could think of. Here." Kratos thrust the invitations at his son, who caught them easily.

With a big grin on his face, the teen said, "Thanks, Kratos! I'll give them to everyone!"

Kratos said nothing; he just turned around, took out his wings, and flew off. At least the invitations were taken care of. Hopefully he didn't have to cook this year, either.

* * *

"So…we're going to a Christmas party…in Vinheim…where our enemy is?" Genis stared at Lloyd like he had grown another head. Why would he accept those invitations so easily? Was he stupid or someth-? Well…

"Yeah! Kratos gave them to me! Isn't that awesome? Now we don't have to celebrate Christmas at the school!" Lloyd grinned widely. Meanwhile, a certain half-elf was getting angry.

"Are you insinuating that spending Christmas learning about holiday traditions isn't _fun_?" Raine asked.

"W-well…you see, Professor…uh…don't hurt me?" Lloyd backed away from his steaming teacher.

"I quite enjoy it myself," Regal mused.

"That is irrelevant at this point," Presea stated monotonously. Regal looked slightly less cheerful at Presea's curt words.

While Lloyd was getting his daily beating from the Professor, the more sane members of the group tried to decide whether or not to back out on Lloyd's spur-of-the-moment plan to go the Mithos' Christmas party.

"Going to Vinheim while Yggdrasill is our enemy is practically suicide," Genis pointed out.

"But it could help us get more information on him," Zelos retorted.

"You just want to go see Pronyma," said the cynical half-elf.

"The Chosen has a point, however," Regal stated, a slightly amused expression on his face. "If we go, we'll have access to an unknown amount of information."

"Exactly. The amount of information is _unknown_. We don't even know where it would be!" Sheena said, throwing her arms wide to emphasize her point.

"But we could find it. We found the ingredients to cure Colette's Chronic Angelus Crystallus Inofficium, so we can find Yggdrasill's private stash of knowledge, too," Zelos said matter-of-factly.

"Like I said, Zelos: you only want to go there to see that slutty Pronyma," Genis said.

"And the mistletoe. Never forget the mistletoe," the Chosen said, starry-eyed.

Genis rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm against it. What about you, Presea?"

"We should go," the pink-haired girl said.

"Wh-what?" Genis gaped, astonished that she would want to go to the enemy's main base and then quickly changing his mind. "I-I mean, yeah! We should definitely go! It'll be a great chance to get information on Cruxis! Yeah…" Genis rubbed the back of his neck, blushing furiously.

"I am also interested in this…Christmas," she stated, as if the concept were foreign to her.

"Huh?" Colette, who had been sitting quietly, not wanting to get involved in the riot, asked. "What do you mean, Presea?"

"I have never heard of this event. Is it something special?" An ignorant look came over the young girl's face, and she looked less like a robot and more human than ever. She looked just like a young girl, with wide, twinkling eyes and an innocent, cute face.

"Well, duh! It's the day when Mithos the Hero—or, well, just Mithos—was born. I can't believe that you don't know about this!" Sheena said, shock overcoming her features.

"It sounds…vaguely familiar. I guess I forgot about it," Presea said sadly.

"W-well, we'll help you remember! Right, guys?" Genis asked, wild eyes pleading each person he saw.

"Anything for my cute little rosebud," Zelos said, smirking.

"Thank you, all, but this isn't necessary…" Presea started, but Colette cut her off.

"Off course it is! We have to do whatever is possible to make sure you have the best Christmas ever! Because you're our friend." The blonde smiled. The shorter girl looked grateful at this, but remained silent.

"Well, you know the story of Mithos, right? How he stopped the Ancient Kharlan War?" Sheena asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Well, he's considered the savior of the world. It's rumored that he was the child of the goddess Martel," Zelos said before Sheena could continue. He ignored the woman's glare and continued. "But we all know that's not true, now."

"Yes, _we_ know that," Genis said, shooting daggers at Zelos. "No one else. Anyway, when he was born, angels came down from the heavens and sang joyously, because they all knew that he would one day save the nation that was in the throes of war. So he grew up and then travelled with the help of Martel and then he stopped the war on the Holy Ground of Kharlan. No one outside of our group knows what happened to him, or what really happened. This is just lore." Genis looked for Presea's approving face, but only met a blank stare.

"And now, to celebrate Mithos' heroism, we exchange gifts on Christmas day in honor of him," Regal added.

"Yeah! And we sing carols and have a good time and eat pumpkin pie!" Colette said excitedly.

"I…see. So Mithos is considered our messiah and Christ. I understand now. Thank you, everyone. I feel as though I'm remembering more about my past, now." Presea almost looked like she would smile, but as soon as Genis got hopeful, her almost-smile vanished, and Genis' optimism plummeted.

"Well, now that that is done…are we going to the party, or not?" Zelos asked.

Sheena sighed at Zelos' attention span. "Idiot Chosen…I don't think we should. It's too risky."

"It could be our only chance at getting valuable information," Regal said.

"We could get hurt, though," Colette said worriedly.

"We're going, and that's final," the voice of their valiant leader said as he walked back into the room. Everyone noticed his black eye right away.

Raine calmly followed, acting as if nothing had happened. "I agree with Lloyd. This could be our only chance to infiltrate Mithos' home…and I think we all deserve even a little time off to celebrate, anyway." Raine smile warmly, and Zelos and Lloyd cheered.

"Thanks, Raine, my glamorous beauty! You won't regret this!" Zelos whooped.

"I think I already am…" Raine mumbled as she covered her face with her palm.

Those against the party, upon hearing her words, lightened up and thought of the fun that they could have at the party, even if it was at the enemy's base.

"Let's do this!" Lloyd said, and they all went their separate ways to search for party clothes. Regal and Presea stayed behind, having already bought theirs.

* * *

The tall tower that normally loomed over the group, threatening them with its terrible secrets that the angels kept from the outside world, was now an astonishing sight to the eight people whom had only seen death and despair within its intricately carved walls. The traditionally festive colors of red and green colored the bland outside, making the Tower of Salvation look almost as if it _could_ grant salvation to those lucky enough to pass through its doorway. Red bows lined the staircase that led up to the archway, and enormous evergreens lined the clearing that led to the entrance. The entire holy building practically spelled "Christmas". As Lloyd and his friends walked toward the tower, all decked out in their holiday attire, none of them could figure out whether to be happy or keep their guards up. The festive lights that brightened the gloomy setting was uplifting, to say the least, but this was still their enemy's home; this led to mixed feelings about the whole ordeal.

"This place gives me the creeps," Sheena complained as she shivered, both from the frigid air and the lingering sense of evil.

"I'll protect you, my darling hunny," Zelos flirted. Sheena rolled her eyes and smacked him.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much." She walked away from the moaning Chosen.

"We've made it this far, spent ten thousand Gald total on party clothes, and drew up a plan. We can't back out now," Lloyd said from the front of the mob.

Colette added, "Lloyd's right. We need to keep going so we can—"

"Have some fun!" Zelos interjected. Everyone sighed.

"…Let's just go," Raine said. They all walked up the translucent staircase to the golden archway.

When they were further in, they all took the warp pad in turn that led them to Welgaia, where they headed for the giant warp that led to Vinheim, the place where the party—and their enemy—waited for them.

The sparkling mauve lights that colored the warp panel rose to meet each face in turn as they stepped onto the pad one by one. The split second of darkness that they had long gotten used to passed, and they stepped off of the warp to meet another astonishing sight.

The black, gloomy halls of Vinheim were decorated in red, gold, silver, green, and blue. Tables of snacks and goodies lines the walls. Holiday music played loudly, but the voices of the drunken guests were louder. The most prominent feature in the room, however, was the colossal Christmas tree that towered over the entirety of the guests. It sparkled with dozens of strands of colored lights, and the shiny ornaments that filled the tree added to its radiance.

At least it wasn't a trap.

What caught Zelos' eye, of course, was the small green plant that hung from a long string in the middle of the room. His eyes lit up and he grabbed the nearest female's arm. He dragged her over to the mistletoe and planted a kiss right on her lips.

Zelos then decided to look up at the girl he was lucky enough to kiss, and his flirty smile became stark horror when he saw a very angry Professor glaring at him. "How _dare_ you!" she screamed, hitting him with her staff.

"Owww…" Zelos moaned as Raine continued to beat him with her weapon.

"He deserved it," Sheena said casually. She looked around the group and saw that no one—except for Colette—had any sympathy for the Chosen.

"Ooh! Food! I'm starving!" Lloyd drooled when his eyes fell on the buffet table full of Christmas goodies. "Let's go eat, Genis!" His friend nodded and the two rushed over to the table, each attempting to beat the other.

The rest of the group—Sheena, Colette, Regal, and Presea—looked around for something to do, but the chilling voice they had come to despise stopped them where they were.

"Kratos, Kratos, Kratos…What _were_ you thinking, inviting the people who stand in my way to this party?" Yggdrasill said. The four remaining members of the group were the only ones in earshot, and did not know whether to turn around and face their enemy.

"Forgive me, Lord Yggdrasill. You said only to invite people; I did just that. The only people whom I could think of were Lloyd and his group, the Grand Cardinals, and some higher-ranked Desians. You have never put me in charge of the guest list; I did not know who to invite." Kratos' humble tone of voice was strange to the eavesdropping group as it rang through their ears.

The conversation paused, indicating that Yggdrasill was thinking. "Well," he finally said, "I suppose it can't be helped now that they're here. I refuse to fight at this party; it is in honor of Martel, and Martel would never want us to be fighting at her party."

"Thank you, Lord Yggdrasill." Kratos turned and left.

Footsteps came closer to the small group. "Well, well. Look what the Katz dragged in."

"That was a really lame joke, Mithos," Sheena said, turning to meet the leader of Cruxis.

"We heard what you said," Regal said, making a gesture to the spot where Yggdrasill and Kratos had stood just moments before. "We also agree to not fight, as we came here upon request of Kratos. We are here to have fun; not to fight."

"Good. I don't have to explain. Let's stay out of each others' way. Agreed?" Yggdrasill stuck out his hand, and Regal took it.

"Agreed."

* * *

Never had Lloyd felt so on-edge. Everyone outside his circle of friends was part of the organization that he was against. His hands were itching to grab his swords and slaughter everyone in the room. If it weren't for the delicious food, there would be nothing stopping him. Speaking of food…

"Where's the pumpkin pie?" Lloyd mumbled to himself. A hand passed him a plate with a slice of the tasty pie piled with whipped cream. He looked up to thank to stranger and his eyes went wide.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" Kvar said with a slight mocking tone.

"Kvar, get a life. Don't go around torturing young children," Pronyma said as she came up behind him.

"Well, Pronyma. If I was you, I would take my own advice," Kvar retorted as he turned to face her. Lloyd slowly backed away.

"Why, you—!" Pronyma started, but she was cut off by another Cardinal.

"Remember: we came here to have fun. Don't ruin it for me," Forcystus said, glaring at the two brawling rivals.

Don't give orders to me! I am your _leader_!" Pronyma said before Lloyd ran away, making sure that he had his pie.

He made his way toward Colette, who was standing around, chatting with random passersby.

"Bye! Have a merry Christmas!" she said to a Desian as Lloyd approached her.

"You sure are friendly, Colette," Lloyd commented.

"Thanks!" A wide smile was embedded in her face, and her short green dress made her look as cute as a button.

Before they could go any deeper into their conversation, Genis came running up to the pair. "They're singing!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Lloyd said, confused at what was happening.

"Some Desians are singing Christmas carols!" Genis said excitedly.

"Really? That sounds fun! Let's go join them, Lloyd!" Colette urged, tugging at his sleeve.

"Okay!" All three ran over toward the caroling Desians.

"_Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'?  
In the lane snow is glistenin'.  
A beautiful sight; we're happy tonight,  
Walking in a winter wonderland!_"

The singers ended, and those around them clapped for their bravery. The Desians broke apart and left to go eat some yummy treats.

"That was amazing! Right, Lloyd?" Colette asked, turning to face her friend.

"Yeah, it was. I didn't know Desians actually had holiday spirit…" he mused.

"Oh, look! Someone else is going to sing!" she said excitedly, pointing to the platform that served as a stage. A woman with a cute, red dress walked up the stairs. "Wait. Is that…Sheena?"

"Yup, it's Sheena," Genis said from beside the two older friends.

The music began, and so did Sheena. "_Take back the holly and mistletoe,  
Silver bells on strings.  
If I wrote a letter to Santa Claus,  
I would ask for just one thing._

_I don't need sleigh rides in the snow;  
Don't want a Christmas that's blue.  
Take back the tinsel, stockings, and bows,  
'Cause all I want for Christmas is you!_"

"Wow! Sheena's a good singer!" Lloyd commented when the dark-haired girl paused.

"_I don't need expensive things;  
They don't matter to me.  
All that I want can't be found  
Underneath the Christmas tree._

_You are the angel atop my tree;  
You are my dream come true.  
Santa can't bring me what I need,  
'Cause all I want for Christmas is you!_" The song ended, and Sheena bowed slightly before leaving the stage. Everyone around ran up to her to congratulate her.

But one person in particular didn't go up to her; he stood in the back, deciding when the best time would be to give what was in his hand to her.

* * *

The food table was almost empty. All of the turkey, cranberry sauce, pie, stuffing, and gravy that Yuan had set out before the party had almost been entirely eaten. It seemed that the party was coming to a close.

"The Desians sure ate a lot," Lloyd said as he surveyed the table.

"Haven't you over at that table at least ten times?" Genis asked his friend.

"W-well…" Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Idiot," Genis sighed.

"Shut it, Genis!" the taller of the two burst, waving his fist as a threat.

"…No."

Lloyd glared at his friend. Their glare-fest didn't last long because they were interrupted by a hard staff. It hit the back of Lloyd's head, and as he cried out in pain, Raine calmly brushed her weapon off. "This is no time to be angry at each other. It's Christmas time, and we should be happy! So don't be mean to each other."

"…Professor…" Lloyd said, confused.

"Sis? Since when do you have so much Christmas spirit?" Genis asked.

"Well, I found a ruin recently near the Iselia Ranch, and Forcystus said that he would give it to me for Christmas," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that explains it." Lloyd turned back toward the food table. "I wonder if there's any more pie…"

"Pig," Genis accused.

"So?" Lloyd shrugged. "Don't tell me that you don't want another piece, too."

"…Fine." Genis followed the swordsman to the table, leaving Raine shaking her head at them.

* * *

After eating the last piece of pie, Lloyd looked around for the girl he needed to talk to. He had a present for her, which he had picked out just for her. He wandered through the thinning mob of Desians, keeping an eye out for the one girl that made his heart beat faster. Soon, he saw her sitting by the empty stage. He smiled and walked up to her, holding his hand behind his back.

"Colette, I've been meaning to give this to you," Lloyd said as he walked up to her. He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and extended his free hand. A big box wrapped messily in red paper and an oversized green bow was in it. "Here."

"Thank you, Lloyd," Colette said as she took the box from him.

"Open it," Lloyd commanded, and the girl took off the bow and ripped apart the paper. Inside was a white box. She lifted the flaps on the box and gasped. A brown teddy bear sat inside it, wearing a Santa hat and holding a candy cane. "Merry Christmas, Colette!"

"I love it! Thank you!" Colette tackled him with a big hug.

"You're welcome. Now, uh, Colette?"

"Yes?" she asked innocently.

"Can you get off of me?"

"Oh, right! Sorry." She flushed bright red, but all thoughts of embarrassment went away when Lloyd handed her the bear. She unwrapped the candy cane the bear held in its hand and started sucking on it.

* * *

The party had finally ended, and Sheena stood on one of Mithos' many balconies, gazing out at the desolate land of Derris-Kharlan.

"Sheena," a new voice said, breaking her out of her reverie.

"What do you want?" she asked, not even bothering to turn around to face him.

"I have something for you. I've been trying to find the perfect time to give it to you, and it seems that that time is now." He walked up beside her and extended his hand toward her. Sheena took the box that was in his hand.

"You actually got me something?" she asked, bemused.

"Yes. Open it."

Sheena complied and carefully took off the extravagant bow and elegant wrapping paper. Inside was a jewelry box. Afraid of what she would find inside, she slowly lifted the lid. The dim light caught the diamonds on the gold necklace. The actual necklace was carved into a small heart, and was encrusted with tiny specks of diamonds. The center of the heart was a ruby, which shimmered and glowed by what seemed to be its own light.

"Merry Christmas, Sheena. I give you my heart," Zelos said as he bowed deeply.

Sheena was stunned. "Wh-where'd you get this?"

"I had it custom-made, because nothing that describes you can be bought in stores." He smiled expectantly.

Sheena hugged him. "Well, aside from the cheesy pick-up lines, I'm amazed. It's beautiful. Thank you, Zelos."

* * *

Well…that didn't go as planned. I probably shouldn't write stuff a day before I'm supposed to post it. But, then again, I _am_ the biggest procrastinator alive, so why break my record now? But I know that this isn't good, and I didn't have to go back and revise it, so please don't flame me or anything like that for its terrible quality. I felt like I should do _something_ for Christmas, because it's my favorite holiday of the year. And at least I tried, right?

The main reason I think that this is so bad is that I made this an AU, and yet I did barely anything with the Grand Cardinals. I actually had a lot planned for them and Yggdrasill and everyone, but apparently my mind is retarded and can't think right. So this is the result of my crappiness. I'm sorry.

So, that being said, what do you guys do for Christmas? Because my parents are divorced, I have two Christmases, pretty much. I spend Christmas Eve with my paternal grandparents and my cousins, and then I go home and open up one present (which are always pajamas that I wear to bed), and my mom will read my sister and I "The Night Before Christmas" before we go to bed. Then, on Christmas, we open presents at my mom's house before heading over to my maternal grandparents and spend the entire rest of that day there doing whatever with our presents or playing games on my grandma's consoles (oh, yeah; my grandma's _that_ cool. I'm borrowing Tales of the Abyss from her on Christmas!). That's it. That was also a long explanation, so I want yours to be twice as long. Or not. Whichever.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year! See you all in 2011! Maybe sooner, if I can get rid of the most terrible case of Writer's Block ever.


End file.
